


5 Times Dad Bob Flirts with Bitty (and 1 Time Bitty Flirts Back)

by gardenofmaris



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Baking, F/M, Flirting, Jack is scandalized, Love Confessions, M/M, alicia is just amused, also amused, bitty blushes a lot, dad bob is a giant flirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 23:02:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7074199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardenofmaris/pseuds/gardenofmaris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What it says on the tin</p>
            </blockquote>





	5 Times Dad Bob Flirts with Bitty (and 1 Time Bitty Flirts Back)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jacksbits (fragilehuge)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragilehuge/gifts).



> I'd like to thank the lovely jacksbits for giving me this idea and for letting me write it out  
> I hope you enjoy

1.

Bitty looked over at Jack, smiling, happy in the knowledge that here with Jack's parents they could be out. It was an exhilarating thing, being able to show his love for Jack so blatantly, and to know that it was not only accepted, but it was totally encouraged.

He saw Alicia and Bob exchange a look at each other when he leaned in to kiss Jack on the cheek, overwhelmed with the urge and comfortable enough to actually go through with it. Jack's face went bright red and his parents laughed, eyes shining with unconditional love and joy that their baby boy was so truly happy. It made Bitty's heart swell in his chest to see such loving parents, and he hoped that his parents would be the same the next weekend when Jack and Bitty had planned a dinner to come out to them.

Pushing the thought aside, he leaned into Jack's side on the loveseat they'd picked after dinner. Jack's parents were seated on the couch perpendicular to them and they were all exchanging stories, mostly of Jack. Bitty hadn't laughed that hard in ages, and he didn't think Jack had gone any paler than a medium pink throughout the entire conversation.

As soon as Bob mentioned bringing out a baby photo album, however, Jack turned redder than he had been all night and immediately sat up, shaking his head. “ _Mon Dieu, Papa, non,_ ” he blurted. Bitty thought it was the most adorable thing that he had seen, Jack reverting to his favorite language in his panic. It was adorable enough, he decided, that he would cut him some slack for the moment.

“Maybe another time, Mr. Zimmerman,” he cut in smoothly, smiling charmingly.

“There's no need for formality here, Eric.” Bob smiled at Bitty. “Bob and Alicia will work just fine.”

“Well.” Bitty flushed slightly in happiness, excited that everything was going so spectacularly. “In that case, y'all can call me Bitty.” He snuck a look up at Jack, who was looking as happy as he was, and also relieved that the subject of his baby photos had been dropped. Just to mess with him, Bitty looked back at Alicia and Bob. “And I would love it if you could show me that album some other time. I'm dying to see them and hear the stories behind them. Jack won't tell me anything about a certain pair of incidents I've heard about involving the Stanley Cup when he was a baby, but he's not the only one I can get that information from. And I'm sure you two can be much more forthcoming.” He smiled up at Jack's face of betrayal before turning and blinking innocently at Bob and Alicia.

Bob burst into raucous laughter, clutching his stomach and throwing his head back. Alicia was just as amused, although not quite so obviously. They laughed for a few minutes, Bitty snuggling into Jack's side as he giggled along, Jack's parents' laughter infection, and laced their fingers together.

They didn't laugh long, but when they stopped, Bob wiped away a few tears and smiled, still chuckling to himself.

He finally composed himself, and Bitty watched the whole thing with amusement, then with curiosity at Bob turned to address Jack. “Son, you've found yourself someone perfect. Not only is he a looker, but he's got a killer sense of humor. He's just the type of guy I always wanted before I found Alicia.”

Bitty's eyes widened, his face turning a cherry red, and he would have liked to say that he handled it maturely, but the moment Bob winked at him, he was pretty sure an ungodly squeak next to him.

“ _Papa_!” Jack gasped, scandalized, but Bitty honestly didn't think that Bob heard him over his parents' renewed laughter, and soon, he found himself joining in, the whole situation feeling surreal.

 _Oh Lord above, Bob is a flirtatious menace_ , he thought to himself, laughing as Jack practically pulled him into his lap to try to discourage his dad.

Bob and Alicia laughed harder.

 

2.

Bob hugged Suzanne, smiling at her when they finally let go. “Let me know how things go, okay? I want to make sure you're safe.”

“We both do,” Alicia chimed in, pulling Suzanne into a tight hug of her own. “And let us know if more time ever frees up for you or you and your husband. You've been lovely company, and you know that you're always welcome.”

Suzanne smiled, flushing slightly. “Thank you both so much for welcoming me into your family. I'm not sure I can come all this way up again anytime soon, but I'll see if I can drag my silly husband away from his work long enough to come and spend some time. It's been an absolutely lovely week, thank you all.”

Bitty pulled his mom into a hug of his own, and she curled herself around him in a subconscious desire to keep him close forever. “Thanks for letting me stay here for a little while longer, Mom. You're the best.”

They hugged for a little while longer, before she pulled away and nodded once, wiping away a slight dampness at her eyes, smiled, and kissed Bitty on the forehead before turning and getting into her car. Everyone waved at her car until it disappeared, and Bob smiled as Jack pulled his boyfriend into a hug. They could all tell that he was going to be homesick for a little bit, now that he didn't have his mom near anymore.

As Bitty looked off in the direction that his mom had driven, Bob reached out a hand to Bitty's shoulder and turned him so that they were both facing each other. “Your mother is quite a lovely person, Bitty. I can see where you get it from.”

Bitty smiled, a gesture that looked a bit watery, and nodded. “Her and MooMaw made me who I am today.”

Bob nodded. “You must miss them when you're not around.”

“Yeah.” Bitty's forlorn sigh made Bob's heart break a little bit. “I'm getting more used to it the more it happens, but it never really goes away, you know?”

Pulling Bitty into a tight hug, Bob nodded. “I know. While you're here, though, we'll make sure to make you feel as at home as possible.”

“Thank you.” Bitty's arms tightened around him before they let go of each other and Jack pulled Bitty close to him to give him comfort too.

“After all,” Bob continued, as they started walking up the stairs into the house, “it's imperative that I treat such a gorgeous young man with the utmost hospitality and care. Beauties such as Bitty are hard to find, and they should always be treated like the jewels they are.”

“ _Papa_! You have a wife, stop trying to steal my boyfriend!”

Bitty flushed, looking up to see an equally flushed Jack as he was pulled closer to his boyfriend.

It brought a real smile to his face, and his eyes flicked to Bob, who winked playfully at him.

'Thank you,' he mouthed.

Bob smiled.

 

3.

“All I'm saying, sweetheart, is that yes, hockey is amazing, but figure skating holds a place in my heart that will never be usurped, even by magnificent hockey.”

Jack stared at his boyfriend, eyes pleading, while Bob and Alicia watched the exchange with amused expressions, food forgotten by everyone at the table.

“But… Bitty… It's hockey.”

Bitty smiled and shook his head, leaning forward to kiss Jack's cheek pityingly. “Yes, Jack. Hockey is amazing. Hockey is glorious. And you playing hockey is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. But figure skating is my first love on the ice, and it will always be like that.”

Jack pouted, probably hoping to get more kisses, and batted his eyes at Bitty. It came off a bit awkward looking, and Bitty snorted softly. “Bless your maple-addicted, Canadian, hockey-loving, innocent, naive heart, Jack Zimmermann. You are a treasure.”

He laughed softly at Jack's expression of confusion and patted his cheek, before turning back to his food. “You poor sweetheart. You would get eaten alive in the South,” he mumbled, before smiling innocently at Bob and Alicia. “Please never let him go down there when I'm not there.”

“Of course not,” they agreed solemnly, before breaking into snickers at Jack's unimpressed look towards the both of them.

“I'm fully aware of Southerners and their masking of passive aggressive comments covered up in compliments,” he muttered, looking down at his plate. “It just takes me a moment to catch it.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Bitty replied, tone completely serious, before tucking his head in the junction of Jack's neck and shoulder and nuzzling his jaw. “That's why I'm here. I'll defend your honor.”

Jack moved his head to kiss Bitty sweetly, and the younger man smiled.

He turned back to his food, taking a bite before continuing their earlier conversation. “But anyways, we got off topic. All I'm going to say on the matter is that I will always love hockey with the passion of a thousand suns, but I'm going to love figure skating with the passion of ten thousand suns. And that's not even thinking of baking, which we all know I could spontaneously combust over, I love it so much.”

“Even though your boyfriend is an NHL player?” Bob interjected smoothly, still amused at the whole debate.

“Your wife is a model, but that's not exactly your passion, is it? Your love is hockey. When it comes to overall things, mine is baking. But when it comes to the ice, mine is figure skating, although hockey is definitely a close second.”

Bob nodded. “Can't argue with that.”

“That's true, I guess,” Jack sighed. “Besides,” he added, “figure skating is pretty beautiful. I can see why you'd like it.”

Bitty flushed and interlaced their fingers underneath the table.

Later, as they were all doing a dish washing assembly line, Bob looked over at Bitty. “Jack was right, you know.”

Bitty looked over at him. “About what?”

“About why you would like figure skating. I'm sure that you were a star out there, and I'm even more sure that at least half the crowd would lose the ability to breathe when you performed.”

If Bitty thought he'd been red before, he was even redder now. _Good Lord Above_ , he thought to himself, _I keep blushing like a tomato in July. These men are going to be the death of me_.

“Oh goodness me, thank you.” He smiled shyly, thinking about how lovely Bob had been, and thinking about how Jack reacted every time. It made him feel loved, made him feel wanted. It was really quite wonderful.

“You're most welcome, Bitty.” Bob looked over at Jack, who looked as scandalized as ever. “Don't worry son, I've got the most beautiful wife in the world. Think of this as flirting tips.” His smile was innocent.

Almost too innocent.

 

4.

“So are you finally going to tell us what smells so good and has Jack practically chomping at the bit to get into the kitchen, Bitty, or are you going to keep torturing us for a little while longer?” Bob called into the kitchen.

Bitty had shooed Alicia out of the kitchen as soon as lunch was done, claiming that he was in charge of dinner and dessert. He had then prohibited them from coming into the kitchen for the next few hours. Jack had assured them that everything was alright, but that Bitty was most likely working on a top secret family recipe and he wouldn't want anyone to see what went into it.

Beyonce music had been blasting from the kitchen all afternoon, Bitty's singing carrying along with it, and before long there was an amazing smell seeping throughout the whole house. Jack had looked like he knew exactly what was coming, especially as dinner time approached, but he refused to say anything.

“Don't you worry your impatient little heart, we're getting there,” Bitty called back from the kitchen. “If you could be a dear and set the table, that would be lovely. Then I can serve dinner, and after that, we can all eat this beautiful creation.”

Dinner was absolutely phenomenal, and Bob and Alicia couldn't believe it.

“You used to get this all the time, Jack? I'm jealous.” Bob shook his head, eating heartily.

“Not all the time. Mostly it was dessert. It was only occasionally that Bitty would make us actual food, past team breakfast. Everyone helped there, though.”

Alicia hummed, having finished her plate quickly and happily. “If dinner is this amazing, dessert might just send me straight to heaven.”

Bitty smiled, proud. “That is high praise. Thank you.”

When everyone was finally done, Bitty brought in the most delicious looking peach cobbler that any of them had seen, and immediately it was as if none of them had eaten.

As they started eating, the dining room was mostly silent, save for some soft noises of appreciation and happiness, as the Zimmermann family dug into the peach cobbler Bitty had made. It was his pride and joy, one that had been created from a recipe his MooMaw herself had come up with. This was one of the best he'd ever made, and Bitty was ridiculously proud of himself, a small smile donning his face every time someone took a break from devouring his dessert to catch their breath and compliment him.

“I really shouldn't have eaten that,” Jack bemoaned, setting down his plate that once had a generous slice of peach cobbler but now only had some crumbs and a little bit of filling smeared across the bottom. “But it was so good. I could never get tired of this.”

Bob ate the last bite of his cobbler as well, before turning to Alicia solemnly. “I'm afraid we're going to have a get a divorce, because I need to marry this perfect young man and make him bake this for me every day of my life until I die.”

Alicia nodded, obviously trying not to burst into laughter. “I completely understand. But how are we going to break this to them?”

“Don't you dare, Papa,” Jack warned, amused at his dad's goofiness, but also knowing that if anyone was going to propose to Bitty over his baking, it was going to be him, dammit.

“Bitty. Eric.” Bob looked over at Bitty, who had his hand covering his mouth and his snickers, and grinned widely at him. “Will you please marry me and bake me things for the rest of my life?”

Bitty started giggling, face a light red, and playfully put a hand over his heart. “I do apologize, Mr. Zimmermann, but my heart has already been given to your son. I'm afraid I could never marry another.”

Jack stared at Bitty in awe, and Bitty's mouth clapped shut as he realized what he'd said. “Oh. Um.”

“Did you mean it?” Jack asked quietly, and Bob and Alicia instinctively grabbed at each other, hoping they'd just witnessed the first declaration of 'you're it for me' that they thought they had.

“I… uh…” Bitty stammered, face turning an entirely new shade of red, before he nodded. “Yeah,” he murmured softly.

As Jack grabbed Bitty and pulled him away towards their room, Bob called out, “I'm still going to make you teach me how to bake something!” and he heard an “Okay,” yelled back at him before a door slammed and Bob and Alicia hugged each other and did their best not to squeal like children.

 

5.

Bitty stopped suddenly but quietly in the supermarket, letting Bob, Alicia, and Jack keep walking as if he was still with them, before running towards his boyfriend's back. “Catch me, Jack,” he called, before jumping up and wrapping his arms around his neck and his legs around Jack's waist.

Jack didn't stumble, Bitty having done this enough times before that he knew what was going to happen the moment he heard Bitty running. Instead he chuckled, hands coming to place themselves on Bitty's thighs to keep him from falling off of his back. One time had been enough, and he still felt tremendously guilty, no matter how many times that Bitty assured him it wasn't his fault.

“There we go!” Bitty commented into Jack's ear, a satisfied tone in his voice. “There's a much better view from up here. Oh, turn here. We need more butter.”

“More butter?” Alicia asked, a tad bit concerned.

“It's better if you never ask about how much butter is in the things he bakes us,” Jack repeated sagely. “Ignorance is bliss.”

“Good boy. You learn quick.” Bitty kissed Jack on the cheek and he smiled, tilting his head to return the favor.

Jack told himself that all of this carrying Bitty around was going to help him burn calories in advance for whatever Bitty had planned out in his head for dessert that night. His nutritionist would kill him otherwise. Besides, he thought to himself as he hoisted Bitty up a little farther, this was a lovely excuse to have his gorgeous boyfriend pressed up against him in public. It was a win-win in his books.

They eventually made their way over to the produce section, where Bitty needed to pick up various fruits. “See,” Bitty commented to Alicia, as he directed Jack on which fruits were okay to pick and which weren't. “This is all very healthy stuff. It completely cancels out the butter and sugar and everything else.”

“Don't argue with baker's logic,” Jack interrupted, seeing his mother open up her mouth to say something. “He's incorrigible, really. Even I can't sway him.”

“What can I say?” Bitty smiled innocently at Alicia. “It's my Southern upbringing.”

As they passed the peaches, Bob picked one up and rolled it around in his hand. “Do you know why I love peaches so much?” he asked Bitty.

Bitty turned to him and cocked his head curiously. “No. Why?”

“Because they're fair and sweet, but they can have this little tartness that makes them just perfect.” He tossed the peach up in the air and caught it, before picking out a few and putting them in the shopping cart. “A lot like you, actually.”

Jack groaned out loud, and Bitty smiled.

“Oh my, you do that a lot, don't you?”

“Do what?” Bob's guileless look wasn't fooling anyone, and he knew it.

“Flirt up a storm.”

Bob grinned. “Well when I'm around someone as lovely as you, I just have to. It would be a shame to let such a precious person go through my life without making them smile.”

Jack watched them both, always struck with the scandalized feeling that it was weird to see his dad flirt with his boyfriend, but amused at both of their antics at the same time.

 

+1.

Bob held out his bowl towards Bitty, who peered in to make sure everything was going alright. “This is okay, right?”

Bitty tilted his head and checked the consistency before nodding. “This is pretty good so far.”

“Wonderful.” Bob smiled brightly at Bitty, who went on to the next set of steps as to how to make an apple pie.

Jack and Alicia stood in the doorway, talking quietly and watching the two of them interact. Jack's heart felt full of joy, as it always did when he saw Bitty in his little baking bubble. It reminded him of the time back in his senior year, when they'd been making those mini pies together.

That had been an amazing time. It was when Jack realized that they worked as well off the ice as they did on it, and that all too short span of time had been what made him realize that his tiny crush that he'd been intent on ignoring could actually work out, as long as he could get the guts to do something about it. He'd been so caught up in Bitty then that he almost did make a move, once, that day. He and Bitty had just put the pies in the oven and they had the timer counting down. Bitty was humming softly, taking a damp rag and teaching Jack how to properly clean up counters after baking, and Jack had been almost overwhelmed by his feelings, just like in the current moment. He'd stared at Bitty then too, mesmerized by the lines in his face, his laugh, his smile, although he had looked away before Bitty could ever notice. He'd told himself it wasn't the time, and while he sometimes wished he'd done something that day, he wouldn't trade what they had now for the world.

He was so lost in his memories that he didn't catch whatever it was that his dad had said, only that he smiled in that way he only ever did when he had finished making a flirtatious comment at his dad. Jack shook his head, fond exasperation in his features, before he was suddenly caught off guard by a familiar glint in Bitty's eyes. It seemed that he had been teaching Jack's dad how to flour the counters properly to roll out the dough, meaning that the bag of flour was currently in Bitty's hand. Jack saw, practically in slow motion, how Bitty reached into the bag, before pulling his hand out and flicking Bob in the face with the white powder.

Bob blinked, and Bitty did it once more, before turning back to the counter and rubbing some flour into the surface. “Mr. Zimmermann, you are truly a lovely man. You do know how to make a good Southern boy's heart go all aflutter.”

Jack was shocked. He blinked along with his father a few more times, but as his father burst into laughter, he just kept blinking. Bitty was flirting along? It was adorable as hell, and he loved how Bitty added just that extra bit of Southern Belle, but it still caught him off guard. Yes, he'd been receptive to Bob's flirtations before, but he'd never flirted back. Was he in the Twilight Zone? It felt like he was.

But then Bitty burst into his beautiful laughter, and his mom leaned up into his ear, laughing as she asked “Do you think we should be worried about those two?”, and his dad looked him dead in the eyes and winked.

He was still slightly scandalized. After all, he'd been seeing bits of his father's personality he'd never had an inkling existed before. But Bitty was there, and Bitty made everything good, so when flour started flying, he laughed and joined in on the fun.


End file.
